McGregor claimed the UFC's 155lbs crown in November 2016 in the main event of UFC 205, a card which saw him become the first fighter in the promotion's history to hold two titles simultaneously. 

‘The Notorious’’ reign as the UFC's first simultaneous two-weight world champion came to an end a few weeks after his historic victory at Madison Square Garden when he was stripped of the featherweight title. 

The UFC relieved McGregor of the 145lbs belt, which he claimed with an unforgettable 13-second KO victory over Jose Aldo, due to his failure to defend it. 

McGregor, 29, has yet to defend his lightweight title, instead opting to take a multi-million-pound boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr. 

UFC president Dana White has seemingly grown tiresome of McGregor's lengthy hiatus and has suggested that McGregor could be stripped of his title for the second time.

“As long as Conor is willing to fight by March, we can do Khabib (Nurmagomedov) versus Tony (Ferguson)," White told Yahoo Sport's Kevin Iole. 

"And then the winner fights Conor for the title. 

"Or, Conor doesn’t want to fight and wants to sit out until next fall, then we’d have to make Khabib versus Tony for the title, not the interim title."

Should McGregor opt to return to action by March, his first fight back in the mixed martial arts world is expected to be a lightweight title unification bout against interim 155lbs champion Ferguson.

"Nobody has talked about (Nate Diaz,” White said during the UFC 216 post-fight press conference. "Diaz has never been talked about. That's internet bulls**t.

"Tony is the interim champion, Conor is the champion, it's the fight that makes sense.

"It's the fight that has to happen. It doesn't make sense, it's the fight that has to happen."